In recent weeks the government has taken positive actions to combat the opioid epidemic. The President announced steps to prevent opioid addiction and also to appropriately treat the million Americans who already have opiate addiction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new opioid prescribing guidelines based on studies showing opioid painkillers work best for relieving cancer-related pain and acute pain during the first few days after an...

Childhood trauma has lasting effects that can impact us throughout adulthood and can even be transferred to our children. Exposure to various forms of abuse, violence, loss or neglect early in life has been linked to higher risks for addiction, depression, anxiety, eating disorders and other mental health conditions.

The human brain is constantly changing. Our gray matter is responsive to music, mayhem and medicine, adapting with exposure to these and other stimuli, including psychotherapy. Science has shown that many forms of psychotherapy, whether used in conjunction with medications or without, can actually cause physiological changes in the brain that result in better treatment outcomes for people with trauma, addiction and other mental health disorders.

Over the past few years, media reports have sounded the alarm that an opioid epidemic is sweeping the country, killing thousands of our citizens. And now new research findings reveal that the problem may be even more widespread than we had thought.

In 2015 it was reported that 33,000 people died from an opioid overdose — a historic high. However, researchers now tell us that number should have been even higher, as it is likely that thousands...

When you think of a drug overdose victim, chances are you think of someone inexperienced with drug use who takes more than they can handle, or a person who unknowingly takes a purer strain of drug than they’re used to. Those assumptions, however, aren’t reflected in current statistics. So what is an accurate profile of a drug overdose victim?

WHO: Statistics show that the people most at risk of drug overdose are people you...

Is there anyone left in our nation who can say they personally know no one touched by problem drug or alcohol use?

Judging by a flurry of studies released in 2016, including the first-ever report on alcohol, drugs and health by the Surgeon General, the answer is a resounding no. The new data makes clear that more and more Americans are using drugs and alcohol in ways...

The holidays are a time to get together with loved ones, to reminisce about old times, and to anticipate the future — all things designed to bring joy. But if you have addiction in your past, these activities carry the potential to prompt different feelings: grief and loss.

That’s because addiction leaves so much damage in its wake, and the nostalgia and sentiment of the holidays seems to shine a spotlight on...

In the wake of extreme violence in Orlando, FL, along with numerous other relatively recent mass shootings, one wonders if someone should have intervened with these troubled individuals before the violence occurred. But who is that someone, how would that person have known that intervention was needed, and what if anything could that person have done to help the troubled individual and potentially prevent tragedy?

It was billed as a compassionate approach to pain. Instead, the aggressive prescribing of opioid painkillers such as OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin became the driver of an addiction epidemic that has caused overdose deaths to more than double since 2002.